GAO: 4 options for NMI employers

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has outlined four options for Northern Marianas employers to hire foreign workers under a federalized immigration system.

In its legal analysis of the CNMI federalization bill, the GAO said the legislation “allows federal agencies to preserve access to foreign workers in the CNMI during the transition period but limits access to certain workers after the transition period ends.”

One option for CNMI and Guam employers is to petition for foreign workers under federal nonimmigrant H visas without counting against numerical caps for H-1B and H-2B visas.

Each year, only 66,000 such visas are issued for employers across the country. Until 2014, the CNMI and Guam will be exempted from this quota.

Visa holders will be limited to working in the CNMI or Guam. Spouses and minor children can accompany the visa holder. Under current federal requirements, H-1B visa holders can stay up to three years initially, with a possible three-year extension. H-2B visa holders can stay for up to one year initially, with a possible two-year extension.

The second option is to acquire temporary CNMI-only nonimmigrant work permits. This option is available, during the transition period, for employers of foreign workers who are not eligible for H visas.

The U.S. Secretary of Labor may extend the CNMI-only program indefinitely for up to five years at a time.

Temporary workers with CNMI-only permits are to be treated as non-immigrants under U.S. immigration laws, and may apply for a change of status, either to another nonimmigrant status or to permanent residency. They may transfer freely between CNMI employers, but they may not travel or work in the rest of the United States.

Third, during the transition period, existing CNMI-government-approved foreign workers who are legally present in the CNMI under CNMI immigration laws on the effective date of the transition period are temporarily protected from deportation.

However, they must obtain U.S. immigration status before their pre-federalization, CNMI-issued permit expires or within two years of the transition period’s effective date, whichever is earlier. If not, they may be deported.

Fourth, during and after the transition period, CNMI employers can petition for nonimmigrant status and employment-based permanent immigration status for workers under the same procedures as other U.S. employers.

However, the GAO said, access to foreign workers in low-skill positions will be limited after the end of the transition period in 2014, and after any extensions of the CNMI-only permit program.

The GAO said that in addition to superseding and replacing all CNMI immigration laws, the bill will eliminate any other CNMI laws related to the admission or removal of aliens, which could include some CNMI labor laws.

The U.S. Senate, by a vote of 91-4, passed the bill. The measure now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives, where it has bipartisan support. The House is expected to concur shortly. Once the bill clears the House, it will be sent to the president for his signature, and will then become law.

In addition to federalizing CNMI immigration, the bill would also give the Commonwealth a delegate with limited voting powers to the U.S. House.

It also contains a provision requiring the Department of the Interior Secretary to consult with Homeland Security and the CNMI governor two years after the bill’s enactment and report to Congress on the status of nonresident worker population in the CNMI, including recommendations on whether Congress should consider permitting legal aliens to apply for long-term immigration status.

The Fitial administration opposes the immigration bill, saying it is too restrictive and would further damage the CNMI’s struggling economy.

The local government believes that a federalized immigration system would make it difficult for the CNMI to hire alien workers to fill jobs in the islands. It also fears the CNMI will lose its edge as a destination for Russian and Chinese tourists.